Best Toys For Kids (And Dads)

13 Awesome Toys That Dads Will Want To Play With Too

Last week the New York Toy Fair revealed the biggest and best playthings set to launch this year: action figures, miniature vehicles, board games, and more tech than you can throw (well, fly) an app-assisted drone at. Yes, the New York Toy Fair has got man-children all across the world excited.

But there are already an incredible selection of toys available out there. The kind of toys that every dad wants to buy his kids, just so he can have a good play with them after the little tykes have gone to bed. And if you haven't got kids, some of these toys are cool enough to make you want kids, just so you've got an excuse to buy some topnotch LEGO.

Here are 13 of the very best toys that every man and child should own.

Lego Assault Walker

Sure, it’s called the “Assault Walker”. But if it looks like an AT-AT, moves like an AT-AT, and stamps on rebel scum like an AT-AT, then it must be an AT-AT – which, as every dad knows, is the coolest vehicle to ever come galloping out of the Star Wars universe. It was also the must-have item from the original Star Wars toy collection. This LEGO set is taken from the pimped-up version in The Last Jedi, dwarfing the original AT-ATs. With almost 1,400 pieces, it’s a sizable build, and comes with five mini-figures so you have a decent play. Sorry, display.$149.95 at Amazon.com

Transformers: Power of Prime & Generations

The “Robots In Disguise” have lost none of their shape-shifting genius over the years. The designs have just got better and better, and figuring out how to transform them – without instructions, if you’ve got the nerve and patience – is one of the all-time great man-tasks. There are all sorts of Transformers available, including some for younger kids. The best of the lot are the Power of Prime and Generations ranges – sophisticated figures usually based on characters familiar from the 1980s cartoons and comic books. $16.99 at Amazon.com

Anki Overdrive: Fast & Furious Edition

The app-based slot-less racing from Anki has left the primitive-seeming Scalextric in the dust (though to be fair, Scalextric has tried to catch up with its own App Race Control series). Anki Overdrive hooks up to an app and allows you to control cars with your mobile device. The technology – which is based on magnetic “smart” tracks – makes for exciting, fast-paced game play, though it takes some mastering (be honest though fellas, being lord and master of the car – even a little toy car – is a matter of manly pride). This set might you back a bit financially, but as it's based off the Fast & Furious movies, it’s about the most macho toy out there. Race either Vin Diesel or The Rock’s trademark wheels, and smash each other off the track while you’re at it.$169.99 at Amazon.com

Monopoly Gamer

A Nintendo-themed twist of everyone’s favorite capitalist board game, this is your chance to both take your kids for every penny they’re worth and relive the glory days when you were the best Super Mario Bros player in the entire school. You can play as either Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi, or Donkey Kong, and have to beat big bad bosses along the way – before facing the mighty Bowser to win the game. Another nice touch is that you use Mario coins instead of paper money as currency.$21.00 at Walmart.com

Merge VR

Like an advanced version of Google Cardboard (but at a very affordable price), the Merge goggles are powered by a mobile app. Just slip your phone into the headset, and it’ll take you to an immersive virtual reality world through games, apps, and 360 experiences. The headset is made of a soft marshmallowy foam, meaning it’s highly durable – perfect for when the kids (all right, you) inevitably walk into the wall. You can also pick up innovative add-on, the Merge Cube – a futuristic box that sits in the palm of your hand and conjures up its own augmented reality games. It also pairs with your phone individually, so it can be used without the headset. It’s the future, man.Starting At $47.25 at Amazon.com

Retro Top Trumps

An oldie but still a goodie. Top Trumps have re-released some of their most beloved sets from yesteryear – horror characters, racing cars, and football stars from 1992. These are actually great to play with kids (whether you’ve got kids yourself, or feel like using your mad Top Trumps skills to trounce a niece, nephew, or even a child who belongs to a friend or neighbour) but you’ll be able to turn them into a drinking game with your friends, who will still be well jealous that you’ve got all the best Top Trumps cards.$12.99 at Amazon.com

Star Wars Black Series Action Figures

The standard kids’ Star Wars toys aren’t as good as they used to be. If you’ve seen the Millennium Falcon with a massive Nerf gun that pops out the top of it, you’ll know what we mean. But these action figures, while definitely kid-friendly, were made with adult collectors in mind. Highly detailed, and often catering straight to the hardcore fans with geek-baiting the choices of characters and specific movie scenes, these are Star Wars toys for big boys. Our favorites are Admiral Thrawn and Jaina Solo (two badass characters from the “expanded universe”) and the brilliantly dodgy Director Krennic.From $9.72 at Amazon.com

LEGO Ninjago Mechs

For average dad, Ninjago – LEGO’s own fantasy story – is a part of everyday life. Of course, at first we pretended we weren’t interested. But the more we’ve been forced to build sets for the kids, the more we’ve realized just how cool it is – the range also has some of the wackiest, most innovative designs LEGO has ever made. These sets from the recent Ninjago movie are two of the best. The Garmadon Mecha Man is a giant robot hammerhead shark (honestly, what’s not to like?), which the baddie sits in, while the Quake Mech is one for the good guys – a fighting robot with massive fists and an oversized motorcycle wheel for legs.$73.80 at Amazon.com

Technic Rally Car

More LEGO? Well no, it’s actually the classic Danish brick’s boffin-like big brother, Technic. As a grown man, you might think cobbling some LEGO together is a piece of cake, but if you’ve never tried your hand at Technic you’ve never known the true pain of being utterly defeated by a box of plastic sticks and set of impossible-to-understand instructions. Yes, Technic sets are hard – seriously hard – but that also makes them akin to the most challenging of DIY tasks. This new rally car includes detailed bodywork, an engine with moving pistons, and a realistic cockpit. To make things doubly complex, it’s a 2-in-1 model that can be rebuilt into a buggy.$109.90 at Amazon.com

Ghostbusters Playmobil

Another one designed to hook in dads and grown-up fan boys with a brilliant bit of nostalgia. Playmobil has given LEGO a run for its money with this Ghostbusters Firehouse, ECTO-1, and collection of figures. For movie fans, there’s great attention to detail – little nods to both Ghostbusters movies in the figure and playset designs, plus many, many accessories (honestly guys, you’ll spend ages fiddling with them). There’s also a brand new range of Ghostbusters figures that pairs up with the app, which projects a ghost hologram over the Ecto trap, just like in the films.Figures Starting at $10.95 at Amazon.com

WWE Mattel Retro

Remember how good wrestling was in the 1990s? Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The British Bulldog… ah, magical days. The best part though was the range of action figures, each of which had its own special spring-loaded movie – clotheslines, jumping body splashes, and press slams. Now those figures have been brought back, complete with the old school packaging – partly for kids, but mostly for grown-up wrestling fans who never got over the glory years of Hulkamania.Starting at $7.06 each at Amazon.com

Nerf Rival Guns

Check out the pinnacle of Nerf’s Rival range – Nerf Rival Nemesis MXII-10K. When you’ve absolutely, positively got to kill every mother-effer in the room… or fire little foam balls at them, at least. It’s fully motorized, with a capacity of 100 rounds that fire at a velocity of 100fps (that’s 100-feet per second). It’s such a serious piece of weaponry that it comes with protective face gear. In other words, if Arnold Schwarzenegger owned a Nerf gun – and he may do already, who knows? – this is the one he’d have. For something a bit less pricey, the all-new Rival Kronos XVII-500 handgun blasts five rounds at 90fps and the Helios XVII-700 has a seven-round magazine that fires at 100fps.$17.99 at Amazon.com

Droid Inventor Kit

This one came out last year, but is about to get a step up with a load of updates. The basic kit is 20 magnetic droid parts that you assemble into your very own Artoo unit. But the real fun is using the Droid Inventor App to program and turn it into a real working robot. It beeps, whistles, moves around, and can even navigate itself around obstacles. It also has missions that you can send it on to test and experiment with its various functions. Its “Force Mode” is pretty cool too, as it moves away from your extended hand, as if you’re a legit Jedi Master. The updates, which are due in April, will give the Artoo unit a Star Destroyer’s worth of new functions.$93.90 at Amazon.com